Turtle Canyon

The star of Newport Aquarium's new Turtle Canyon exhibit, Bravo, a 650 pound tortoise, turns 85 Saturday. He was hatched April 19, 1929 on the Ecuadorian island of Santa Cruz. He arrived at the United States as part of the last group of tortoises exported from the Galapagos Islands.

Visitors to the Newport Aquarium's Turtle Canyon, set to open March 22, won't have any trouble seeing the exhibit's star, Bravo.

Bravo is the largest turtle in the Midwest, weighing in at 600 pounds. The Galapágos tortoise was hatched April 19, 1929 on the Ecuadorian island of Santa Cruz. In the next few weeks Bravo will arrive by truck and the aquarium will use a crane to get him inside.

Bravo will join Thunder, the oldest resident at Newport Aquarium at more than 100 years of age. Thunder is a 118 pound alligator snapping turtle.